Page 15 of Better Than Baby
Who knew morning sickness could be an all-day thing?
Okay, a lot of people knew, including Aaron. Me…not so much. But I’d done my research and according to the experts, the near constant nausea and vomiting would hopefully subside once she hit the twelve-week mark.
Geez, I’d have thought it would have tapered off by now. I couldn’t remember the last time Lena hadn’t looked like Casperthe ghost’s sister. I mean…she’d been so sick, she’d lost weight. Only a pound, but still…that couldn’t be good.
I wished I could have asked my mom and my sister or Aaron’s mom and sisters for advice. A little real-experience feedback would have been appreciated. But the doctor had assured us repeatedly that Lena’s symptoms were perfectly normal for a healthy woman in her first trimester of pregnancy, and we weren’t sharing this news until we officially entered the second trimester.
I glanced up as Aaron returned. “How is she?”
“She didn’t lose her lunch this time,” he reported worriedly. “The nurse shooed me away. She’s going to clear a room for Lena and have us join her as soon as she has a gown on.”
I reached for his hand and threaded our fingers. The woman sitting across from us flitted her gaze our way curiously. Fine by me. I hadn’t thought about hiding who I was or who I loved in a very long time. I certainly wasn’t going to start now.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Fine. Then again, I’m not the one who’s been barfing three times a day for five weeks. I’m also not the one in danger of my skin tone clashing with an adorable shade of violet.” He gnawed his bottom lip as he twisted to face me. “Good news…she gained a pound.”
I grinned. “Really? That’s awesome.”
“Maybe. She lost one last week, so I’m not so sure.”
“We’ll bring it up with Dr. Gwinn.”
“Hmm.” Aaron stared at a point over my shoulder before meeting my eyes.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m just wondering if we’ll still want to tell our friends and families when your parents are here. Maybe we should wait till Lena feels better. I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
I inclined my chin. “That’s two weeks from now. The baby genius Instagrammer says a lot changes once she gets to the second trimester.”
“Baby genius, huh?” Aaron beamed. “You’re cute, Matty.”
“I’m not cute.”
“Adorable.”
I huffed. “I’m not adorable or?—”
“Matt and Aaron Mendez-Sullivan?” The cheery young nurse hugging a clipboard stepped into the waiting area. “This way, please.”
Aaron squeezed my elbow as we followed her into a bright office furnished with low cubicles that let in natural light from the bank of windows overlooking the parking lot and a copse of evergreens in the distance. A maze of hallways flanked the hub where nurses and admin coexisted. Too preoccupied to pay attention to directions, we would have gotten lost without a guide.
This was a whole new world to us—pastel tinted and laced with a joyful air I assumed was unique to obstetricians’ offices.
Artistic black-and-white photography featuring parents in silhouette holding their swaddled newborns graced the walls. And women in varying stages of pregnancy passed by in the hallway—some accompanied by partners, some solo, and one brave soul with two kids who couldn’t have been older than five or six.
I smiled at the mother wrangling her active kids and marveled at the idea that we could be just like her one day.
Okay…maybe I wasn’t entirely immune to hope.
“Is the ultrasound set for today?” Aaron asked outside the door with a file marked “Rodrigo/Mendez-Sullivan” sticking out of a plastic holder. “And does the doctor handle it?”
“It is, and Dr. Gwinn will see you afterward,” she replied.
Aaron’s mouth fell open. “Now? It’s happening now?”
“Yes.” The nurse chuckled. “Head on in. Your technician will be with you shortly. And don’t worry, they’ll take lots of photos for you…and video too.”